Truth is I’ve been writing like a crazy woman over at my Confident Writing blog and it’s left little time and energy for reflecting and sharing here.  There are things over there that I think you’d enjoy reading – things that reflect some of the themes I’ve been exploring here too – and I was tickled to find that one of my centre posts in the month long exploration of authentic writing was finding out who you are and doing it in purpose…

But there was something about this shift in focus, purpose and direction that I wanted to chew over here.  It was something I read the other day at Joyful Jubilant Learning (another place I’m now writing, and another reason for some of the radio silence here).  The words went like this:

Making a difference is about picking your spot.  It’s about knowing confidently what’s the right spot for you by believing in yourself.  It’s hitting the target dead-centre, finding your niche in life, relationships and work, and hanging on for the roller-coaster ride!

It struck me because I know, sense, feel that I’m tapping into a lot more energy, creativity and inspiration by narrowing my focus, by concentrating on one core purpose: coaching people to write with confidence

But it also reminded me that picking your spot takes some courage, some conscious, explicit decision to turn your attention away from all the other things that are calling to you, that you could spend your time on, that might be fun to explore, that are worthy causes for you to commit to. 

And sometimes you need nudges, reminders, pointers, permission maybe that say: it’s okay to narrow your focus, to turn your attention away from everything else.

Walking outside gives me some of those nudges.  Reading gives me some more.  This time I’d been reading some bright thoughts over at Sylvia’s place.  She was talking about this very thing – and quoting one of my favourite poets, Mary Oliver.

"One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began."

And I don’t know about you but sometimes these small, seemingly insignificant signals can be enough: to affirm our decision, to give us the confidence to make our decision, to move on.  These words helped me – and when I read the whole poem – The Journey -  I recognised the deeper meaning, the bigger sense of permission that I was seeking, and needed to give myself.

Here’s how it ends:

But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.

I don’t know about you but sometimes I need words – a fragment, a poem, to show me the way, to open the door to new possibilities, to give me much needed permission, to wake me up.

Because sometimes when we know that we’re ready – well sometimes that’s all that it takes.

Joanna Young is a writing coach who loves exploring the power of words to change our worlds, to transform our experience of reality.   You can read more of her writing and find out how to work with Joanna at her Confident Writing blog.

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

Benjamin Franklin was a true Renaissance man, and as a polymath accomplished much in the fields of business, politics and science. In these days of hyper-specialization, it’s ironic that the broader your knowledge base, the better your odds of not only providing remarkable products and service, but also of devising innovative ways to reach out to your target audience.

This post got me writing a piece on another of Franklin’s great sayings:  “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing”.  Then I bumped into him again when I was setting up the software to start reading my feeds (prompted by one of the posts in Mike Sansone’s excellent ‘newcomers guide to business blogging’) – it was a news feed reminding us of the anniversary of his death (17 April 1790).

Anyway by this time I was getting intrigued and had a bit of a rummage around the "quotes" sites.  Another connection – I found that the clock inscription on time that I’d written about a few weeks ago was based on a Franklin quote.  Here’s the whole thing:

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of."

And the sun-dial?  Well I’d been thinking for a while about a friend who has a most amazing talent that she’s not quite ready to share with the world.  I’d been trying to think of a story or a metaphor that might encourage her to go for it.  And I think this short, straight to the point comment might just do the job:

"Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sun-dial in the shade?"
 
Any other favourite Franklin quotes out there you’d like to share?